Blood Brothers
by DuckyDearest
Summary: Huey Duck is put behind bars for crimes he didnt commit - now he has to cope with the everyday life of a convicted murderer until his family on the outside hopefully catch the real killer still on the loose. But things are way more complicated than they first seem, and it all turns into a race agains time to get him out with his sanity intact.(mostly in Hueys pov,references to SAW)
1. Chapter 1

I barely heard my own shallow breath as i bit my teeth together as tight as I could, trying to keep the whimpering and desperate cries to myself. This had been going on for so long that I shouldn't be able or in need to express the anger and fear still piling up inside, but my aching wrists kept reminding me of my situation and the occasional splatter of blood on my forehead was far from pleasant.

It was no use anyway; everyone was gone, there was no one left. I didn't know how many it had been to begin with, but I knew I would have been aware of it if they were still around. The girl I had heard somewhere nearby had stopped screaming for what felt like days ago; It had probably just passed a few hours since she took her last breath though… I felt that i was stumbling towards the same fate at an alarming speed, as I was struggling just to keep my own breath steady; to be honest it scared me more than I would ever admit.

But I didn't give up. I never would. If anything, I would never lose hope; when the hope was gone, so was the way out of this mess. I pulled at my restraints ever so weakly, and felt the blades dig even deeper into my forearms, letting out a weak cry as the pain shot through me. A tiny dribble of blood made its way down my arm, but I felt it more than I could see it in the weak light from the naked bulb in the ceiling. The pain made the tears well up again and my feathers went damp as i tried to blink it away. Damnit… I had brought this upon myself, I knew, but… how could anyone possibly deserve this…? Although the worst thing was that I agreed to partly deserving this punishment after what I did… or rather was about to do.

As i felt the pain fading slowly, the lights flickered and the silence was broken by a sudden bang on the heavy metal door in front of me. The sound was so sudden and so loud that I tried blocking it out, covering my face with my arms despite the heavy restraints. To my surprise, I could actually move my hands, now covered in much less blood than earlier. Looking up, I saw the grotesque glass box above my head was gone along with the razor blades keeping me in place - the ceiling was also replaced, and now the harsh, white light from a fluorescent lamp shone down on me. I blinked franticly a few seconds, confused and disoriented as the loud hits on the door continued. Not until the familiar voice of one of a guard bellowed in the hallway outside I made sense of the situation and remembered where I was; « Inmate, get up!» Almost letting out a relieved sigh at the far from soft voice on the other side, I took a quick look at my wrists and stated that indeed, they were packed in soaked bandages but out of all restraints.

Sitting up on the thin mattress of my metal-framed bed as the door swung up, the guard received nothing but a cold stare; «Cage.» I said, desperate to get out of my cell if just for an hour; the noisy stinking cages were better than nothing.  
Trying to work the sleep out of my eyes as I stood up, I kept ignoring the guard as he made his way over to me and locked the cuffs around my wrists for the quick walk down the corridor. I bit my tongue and swallowed hard as i felt the cold metal against my skin and heard the soft click from the lock. «Not today, inmate. Seems as if you are being transferred.» Frowning, I tried to turn my head around to look at the man behind me; «What did you say..?» the disbelief in my voice must have been obvious since the guard met my gaze as he gave me a push out the door; «You are going to medium. Now get your ass moving and shut up.» For the first time in a long while my eyes were huge in surprise rather than scowling at everyone or heavy-lidded from lack of sleep; did he just say what I think he said? Not allowing my hopes to get up to quickly, I kept trying to make the silly grin on my face to settle and walked as quickly as I could without getting a warning down the shiny linoleum flooring, waiting impatiently at every stop we did by the many barren doors. I heard the familiar shouts from the caged area as we went down the hallway, but this time around we turned right instead of left and I felt my hopes hit the roof. I could practically smell the fresh air I knew awaited outside these many bolted doors and I felt light as we walked down the now strangely unfamiliar corridors, passing by the many green cell doors I had become so familiar with. I was probably partly in shock, but I was smiling like an idiot nevertheless - how could I not, no matter if this was some sort of cruel scam.  
Finally we reached what I vaguely remembered as the final port, and stopped to talk to the angry looking man behind the bullet-proof glass; as the guards exchanged information about me, i peered out between the bars separating me from the outside. The usually grey sky was lit up by the rising sun; telling me it was earlier in the morning that the usual waking. I knew i probably should be eavesdropping on the conversation behind me, but i was too enthralled by the chill air surrounding us and the noisy prison-bus awaiting us on the outside to care. The conversation behind me finally ended, and the heavy hand of my guardian rested on my shoulder as the barrier swung outwards and revealed the asphalted path leading down to the awaiting vehicle.  
I knew Dasiy had been trying her hardest to get me transferred for a long while, but i gave up the second my trial was postponed the second time around. The investigation was on hold once again…

We walked quickly and it felt like only seconds had passed when we reached the open doors; I had been staring through the fences and haywire surrounding us the whole time. I felt a quick pat on my back as I lingered in the doorway. The driver received a quick nod before I made my way down between the row of seats; a few other inmates was sitting down from before but since I never met anyone more than once through my whole stay behind these walls, the only thing telling me whether they were from my ward or not was the difference in clothing. A few wore the same orange tracksuit as me, but others had different outfits. I stared at them all as I passed and although everything I gained was a few annoyed looks I still felt as if I was among friends. I don't know exactly what this kind of almost complete isolation might do to you, but I can sure as hell tell you it's not healthy; suddenly people become distanced and vague, as if they suddenly stopped existing when you didn't see them around anymore. Then what they might think of you suddenly becomes irrelevant as well, yet you feel the need just to see other people occasionally.  
Sitting down, I had my wrists locked to the armrest with a couple of handcuffs and again I had to swallow hard and think of something else; «Where are we going?» I said, my voice suddenly weak as I quickly attempted at getting some more information out of the guard. My eyes were wide with a mixture of excitement and a sudden fear, and I struggled to keep my eyes in one place; « You'll see when we get there,» the guard threw over his shoulder as he walked down the aisle.  
I frowned and let out a small hiss as he sat down in front by the driver; there was still three guards remaining in the back, ready if any incidents were to occur. Most of the prisoners in the bus seemed too busy staring out the window or taking a nap in their seat to start a riot though. 

Smiling weakly at the surreal thought, i turned to look out the window. Throwing a final glance at the secure building i had spent the last moths i felt the relief wash over me as it finally hit me; i was on my way. I was finally out of isolation. The weak smile on my face grew as the scenery changed and the fences had to move in favour of cornfields and blue sky. It was far from over, but it felt as if a great weight was lifted off my shoulders, and the feeling of freedom snuck its way into the back of my mind.


	2. Chapter 2

My heart was beating at a frantic rate and I felt my palms get sweaty as the bus finally passed the last control post. The dust whirled up as we crossed the rocky surface of the ground beneath us, and the sky was clear blue and free of any clouds. The sun was as intense as ever and so was the excitement within me; I felt the smile tug at the corners of my mouth as I looked up at the few watchtowers placed along the fence. Although it was two of them, and they were lined with barb wire, I've also heard that in medium security you won't get shot the minute you try to climb it. Which was strangely relieving.  
I let out a small laugh as the bus finally came to a holt in front of the huge, gray building; who would have thought I would ever get this excited to meet potentially dangerous inmates in what looked like a remnant from the second world war. But it wasn't the same person walking in these gates in handcuffs that had entered the courtroom all that time ago; my values had certainly changed a lot since then.  
Rudely interrupting my trail of thoughts and tearing my gaze away from my new home, my guard unlocked the cuffs keeping me in the seat; «Time to get moving.» I did my best to give him a cold stare as I got up but the humoured look on his face told me I didn't really succeed; I was far too busy keeping all my contradictive feelings at bay to care about whether my façade was cracking or not. The other inmates were already moving, and I got up quickly to join them; however, I didn't get far before my own personal head of annoyance once again stood in my way; «What now?» I said through clenched teeth, although my anger disappeared as fast as it rose in the first place; I knew it was no use getting into a fit anyway, it would just make things harder for myself. «Maximum transfer, it's just policy.» I raised a brow and narrowed my eyes as he gave me a half-hearted smile and chained not only my wrists, but even my ankles to each other. He stood up and after a quick pat on the shoulder he nodded at me; «Now we're good to go.»

The noise as we made our way down the hallway was overwhelming and I felt all the eyes following me as we made our way down the brightly lit corridor; as the only transfer from a maximum security facility I was walked down the hallway in chains, only accompanied by the now two guards towering over me on each side. I kept my eyes locked at the door in front of me as we got closer, my head held high and my face kept blank of any expression. I felt as if my orange jumpsuit was glowing in the dark, and I quickly got the impression that a transfer to a lower level security prison was far from an everyday thing. If I should feel this lucky- I wasn't sure. But what could possibly be worse than what I had endured these past months. Except Jigsaws twisted games of course…

I shook the terrible thought out of my head, as I had got real good at through the time I had spent on my own, with only my own mind to wrap my head around. Forgetting and denying had become a favourite pastime for me lately. The guards chased away a few inmates that had gotten a little too close and opened the blinded door in front of us: the door was closed behind me and I was placed in a small chair facing the huge owl on the other side of the desk. I glanced quickly at his golden nameplate in front of me as he took of his glasses. He cleared his throat as he sat up and turned to face me; «The name is Duck, I assume?» his voice was deep and held an underlying tone of implicit authority. I merely gave him a small grin; «I guess you have heard of me.» my voice was surprisingly calm and confident even in my own ears; I made an excellent job at hiding all the fear and worries once again tearing at my insides by this sudden seriousness. It was the first time someone had addressed me with my name in quite some time and it sounded strange, as the sound of it seemed to linger in the air after the words had died away. I had to bite my tongue not to repeat it for myself and looked away as he shuffled some papers on his desk; «Lets see… Huebert Duck… sentenced with 20 years yet to serve… alright, it seems as if ward F is where you will be staying for now.» He gave me a professional smile and I wondered what kind of thoughts might be travelling through his mind right now; "Mr. Owlet", as the nameplate had read. I returned the smile and patiently awaited permission to leave as my heart raced at the speed of light. «You will now be sent to collect your uniform as well as undergo a rather thorough check before you are shown to your cell.» Mr. Owlet put the glasses back on his small beak and searched his papers before he handed one of the guards some of them; «That is your paperwork boy; be sure to take care of it as they will be needed at more than one occasion during your stay.» He gave me what I took as a sincere smile when I didn't respond immediately; «You will get out of those chains as quick as you are inside our system; it's just a formality to keep them on for now.» I gave him an incredulous stare; «You sure that is such a good idea?» I felt the need to hit myself in the head by the stupidity I displayed when I said that, but the anger had gotten the better of me again; the fact that everyone kept ignoring how I hated these cuffs with a passion had been a thorn in my side since I was first locked up. Still, the huge owl only gave me another smile before he said something I would remember the rest of my stay; « I'm sure it will work out for you, kid.» I thought I sensed some kind of compassion in that voice, and our eyes locked with each other for a moment; «Now get out of my office!» he said in a much sterner voice, before turning back to the papers on his desk. The guards took one arm each and got me back on my feet before they opened the door again; I turned to give the officer a last sinister smile before it was shut behind us; «Thank you, Mr. Owlet.»

The procedure was very much like what I had experienced the first time around, humiliating and harsh. But this time around I cared less and almost took joy in the fact that I could talk with people and actually do something physical for a change. Not to mention the wonderful absence of handcuffs that almost made me cry just from joy. I noticed it was about a dozen inmates being searched along with myself, and I wondered which ones would go to the same ward as me. I didn't get much time to reflect upon it, though, and I was suddenly handed orange shorts and a matching shirt along with a couple of shoes in a soft, grey fabric; «Put these on and get back in line.»  
I did as I was told, enjoying the strange feeling of having my hands free to actually do something useful. We all got in line and I stood waiting for further instructions.

The thick hen I had just mistaken for being a short man came over to me and suddenly took a hold of my left hand after staring me down for a few seconds; I tried not to flinch as she ran her fingers over my bloody bandages, which I was about to point out hadn't been changed since yesterday. She looked up to meet my eyes, and let go of my arm; «a nurse will come around later.» she said, her voice professional as ever. I merely nodded, not sure how to respond to that statement. I felt the eyes of a few other new-hatches burning on my skin, but I didn't return their stares. To be honest it made me a little nervous that I had such an obvious weakness. I didn't have time to think about that either though, since the very next moment we were told to get moving and formed a straight line with an officer at each end.  
Walking through the corridors, it wasn't a single inmate not staring at us as we made our way to the F ward; obviously all of us were sent there. I noticed how everyone we passed were some kind of bird, despite the many types represented; it was obviously a bird-only facility. I felt a small smile once again form on my face as I took in the bright light and constant noise surrounding us. The fact that the inmates were seemingly moving around as they pleased surprised me; it was almost surreal to finally be out of isolation.

It was soon clear that we had reached our ward since the corridors were all cleared of people and only the occasional door was open. We made several stops by different cell-doors and the line got shorter for every time the guard in front locked them in their new cells. Finally my name was called and I made my way over to the door at a slow pace. Truth was that I was scared to know whom I would spend the next years with sharing bunk beds. As quickly as I was inside the small room, the door slammed shut behind me and I was on my own.  
Two bunks were placed in the narrow ends of the room and it was surprisingly well lit, with a small window behind a mesh along with the yellow light from the lamp in the ceiling.  
A metallic toilet and sink was placed beside me by the door and a few lockers were stacked with books and other personal items obviously belonging to the other inmates residing here. Speaking of which, I only found one person in the room although it obviously was shared by more. 

I cleared my throat as I turned to the other man in the room, still sitting on his bed with a book in his hands; « Hi there.» it sounded far too loud in my own ears, as if my voice echoed between the walls. I swallowed hard at the sound but kept my casual smile all the while. My new cellmate turned to me and stood up from the bed at the sound of my voice; now I got to see his whole frame, partly hidden as it had been by the bunk. I had to admit that his height and bulky figure was impressive; the eagle in front of me was at least twice my height and his shoulders had to rival even the Claws in width. A couple of golden eyes were giving me a hard stare under his furrowed brow and the white head plumage were cut and styled in some kind of short mohawk. His muscular arms were covered in tattoos, and the tribal pattern continued up under his white singlet, which didn't leave much to your own imagination; his six-pack were practically ripping the stretched fabric apart. A broad smile suddenly spread across his beak as we stared each other down; « Kingston is the name.» he said in a surprisingly cheerful voice as he crossed his arms in a smug stance; « Earl Kingston.» If it wasn't for his voice I would have guessed him to be way older than me; and somehow it was reassuring to know I was facing someone with generally the same amount of life-experience. A little more confident I returned the smile and moved closer with my hand outstretched in an inviting manner; «Duck. Huey Duck.»


	3. Chapter 3

«So, where did you transfer from? Juvenile?» Earl was sitting on the bunk opposite of me, this time without the book in his hands as I made my bed; he had told me it wasn't too long before count, and the cell was supposed to be spotless when the guards came around; «Nah…» I said, a little hesitant to reveal where I had been residing, although the word would spread quick enough anyway with all the looks I had gained from my runway walk through the corridors; « I spent the last few months up in maximum.» I kept it casual and continued fixing my pillow as I awaited his reaction from the corner of my eye. Hopefully my background as a violent offender would keep people off my back rather than turn me into some sort of target for those with something to prove…  
Earl finally spoke up after just staring at me with an unreadable face; «You come all the way from max?!» He sounded surprised, but I told myself that the sudden look of either compassion or pity was just something I had imagined; it had moved in favour of a half-hearted smile and a raised brow by the time I noticed it in anyway. « I didn't know kids were capable of crimes worthy such a harsh punishment.» I resisted the urge to throw back a rude retort; no way was anyone going to treat me as a newly hatched punk after what I had been through. Finishing off my pillow, I turned to grab a hold of the papers the guard had left on the nightstand. Handing them over to the eagle with a charming smile on my face I tried keeping the venom out of my voice: « Read this, won't you?»  
He looked at me with a humoured expression but took the papers out of my hands nevertheless; «You made riot down in juvenile I bet!» I heard the joking tone and gave a short laugh along with my already smug smile; «I made it to eighteen by the time I got locked up.»  
I leaned in on the bunk behind me and crossed my arms as is stood awaiting some sort of response. For some reason he seemed to read over the same section of text twice, his expression turning more serious by the second.  
«Good thing half of what originally stood there proved to be bullshit, right?» I tilted my head to the side as I once again got the attention of my cellmate; «That was some heavy stuff nevertheless. But I'm not one to judge anyway.» Earl stood up and gave back the paperwork along with what I took as a sincere smile; «You will fit right in here, don't worry.» For some reason I didn't; I got the feeling that if I kept on good terms with this guy I would be on the right track. I gave him another smug smile; «Is that meant as a compliment..?» The big guy just laughed and gave me what was probably meant as a friendly pat on the shoulder despite the fact that it felt like he was trying to crush me with his bare hands; «I like you already.» Suddenly we were interrupted by the sound of someone unlocking the door and Earl went back to his bunk but stayed standing this time around; « Seems like your welcome-committee is already here.» He crossed his arms and signalized for me to get in line as well.

The minute our door was opened a couple of seagulls in dark blue uniforms came tumbling in, yelling at each other in the most annoying way I had ever heard. If I had just turned overly sensitive from moths of complete silence I didn't know, but a look at Earl rolling his eyes in an overbearing manner at the sight told me it wasn't just me. Behind them was one of the guards I had met on my way down to ward F, obviously tired of the fighting inmates on his hands. They both made their way into position while throwing insults at each other and after the guard had done his job and counted us, they crawled up in their beds while sending the occasional ugly stare across the room.  
Earl turned his attention to them with a sigh as he placed his hands on his hips: «What's the problem this time around?» The seagull opposite of me turned to Earl, giving him an angry glare; «Oh, I'm gonna tell yah what's going on; that damned idiot over there almost got me sent to solitary the second time in a row!» His voice almost cracked at the end of that sentence and he glared at the guy above me; I just guessed he had returned the stare because of the continued antics of the offended part on the other side. Again, Earl let out a sigh as he threw his arms out to the sides; «Ok, look Brian, I'm sure it was all a misunderstanding; but…» He was suddenly interrupted by the other seagull; «How the hell was I supposed to know you also got a wrench from the rental! If you hadn't, you wouldn't have gotten the blame for stealing it in the first place!» The one I now knew was called Brian found it in him to explode one more time; «I hope you hear how fucking stupid that sounds for yourself, you damned…!» Seemingly, Earl had gotten enough of their bickering and decided to interrupt; although I had to admit the two birds had been quite entertaining and I felt it tug at the corners of my mouth. It was just way too familiar. «Shut the hell up!» Earl's voice bellowed in the small room and the two gulls actually clammed shut without much more fuss. Smiling in a relieved way, the big eagle spoke again; « As you would have noticed if you didn't come in bickering like the two oversized children you are, we have a hatchie with us today.» He turned to me and gave a smile; «This is Huey. Now, please try not to leave him more damaged than you have managed already.» The two seagulls quickly turned to look at me, as if they hadnt even noticed my presence until it was pointed out to them; the one above me came jumping down as the other, which I understood went by the name Brian, made his way across the floor. I crossed my arms in a defensive manner and decided not to smile too fondly at them.

«Hi there!» the one I didn't know the name of yet said as he invaded my personal space; «I'm Fionn!» he declared as he reached for my hand; I took a hold of it and made sure my grip was as hard as possible; the gull shook it almost frenetically with a big, cheerful smile on his face. Backing off slightly I couldn't help but smile back; although far too eager, he seemed likeable; «Nice to meet you Fionn.» I said, letting out a short laugh. Then Brian made his way over to us and decided to pull my newfound friend away from me; «Give him a break, will yah!» The other seagull just gave him another ugly stare before he crossed his arms and let out a huff; Brian then turned to me; «Sorry about that, my pal here is a little too forward for most peoples taste.» He grinned at me as Fionn gave him a light punch in the shoulder; I raised a brow as I crossed my arms and leaned back; «I don't mind.»  
Suddenly engaged in a half-hearted fistfight with his pal, it took more than a few seconds for him to turn his attention back at me; meanwhile I stood there grinning at their antics. Earl merely shook his head at the sight and threw himself at the bed with his book again; «Good luck getting used to that.» Giving up the project of talking to them I turned my attention back to Earl; «I kinda missed it; my brother and I used to bicker like that all the time…» Earl put his book down again; he just had to give up reading today it seemed; «You have a brother?» I nodded and sat down on my bed, smiling as my thoughts trailer back to the good old times; «Yeah, I have two. We are triplets actually.» He smiled back at me, again giving me a flash of the youth he hid behind that tough façade of his; «That's so cool! But Isn't it a little freaky to have someone looking exactly like you?» I laughed at him; «No way, I'm the only handsome one! Besides, I'm three hours older than them.» I grinned, and Earl gave a short laugh; «The most assertive one too it seems!» He sat back up with his hands resting on his knees; «So, they coming to visit you anytime soon?» I suddenly felt taken aback, as the thought of seeing them again hadn't even hit me yet; giving him an insecure look I asked in a surprised voice; «You are allowed visitors here?!» He nodded, looking surprised himself; «Yeah, sure! Twice a week actually. As long as they are on your visitor-list it shouldn't be a problem at all.» I kept staring at him, unsure what to say as the happiness exploded in my chest; I had one single visit from Daisy during my time in max, and that was merely a five minute chat through a phone and separated by bulletproof Plexiglas. «You didn't have much of that back at max I guess?» Earl was looking at me with compassion tracing his features; «Trust me, compared to that, this is like summer camp.» Finally getting a hold of myself I grinned back at him; «And to think I thought of summer camp as hell on earth.»  
He grinned back at me, and I suddenly felt as if I had woken up from a deep slumber; it was a light in the end of the tunnel after all.

I turned to take a look at the fighting birds still on the floor, but my eyes travelled further as I saw what was behind them; an open cell-door. I blinked a couple of times to make sure I wasn't just a victim of wishful thinking. Earl obviously saw me staring in disbelief and decided to confirm my suspicions; "You are free to leave the cell whenever the door is open. They just threw these to boneheads in here for count; when you aren't at work or eating in the cantina you can do whatever you want." I tore my eyes away from the doorway and met his gaze; "…seriously?" the insecurity seeping through my words obviously woke some caretaking part of him; "I'll give you a tour; I need to visit the library anyway." He got up and found a shirt in the same blue colour as the others wore before he headed to the door; turning to me with a humoured look on his face he nodded in the general direction of the corridor outside; "You coming or what?"

Brian and Fionn Colmán (irish ancestry, but from the east coast. )


	4. Chapter 4

The library was much bigger than I expected, and practically bulging with books. I looked across the shelves separating the large room into smaller sections, and noticed it looked a lot like any other library - apart from the barred windows that is. Earl was already systematically searching through one of the shelves and ended up with a huge book in his arms.  
He smiled at me and gestured towards a table and some chairs partly hidden behind a rack of books «You ain't gonna find something to read?» he asked me, raising a brow « I tell you, it's gonna get real boring in here if you don't find yourself a hobby. Or start reading up on stuff, like me.» I snapped out of my daze, still partly distracted by the fact that I was actually walking around on my own. Without restraints. Moreover, that the guards merely had half smiled at the sight of me walking down the halls in my orange uniform, although I still felt like I was glowing in the dark.  
I had noticed that the presence of Earl automatically made other inmates move out of our way; most of them nodding in acknowledgement and seemingly happy to see him. I had gained a few curious stares but no one talked directly at me so I kept up the impervious facade and never let a single sign of insecurity break through.

Finally focusing on my cellmate I smiled sincerely, although it ended up looking a little disoriented; "what were you saying..?" He merely grinned and pushed another slightly thinner book in my arms; «try wrapping your head around this.»  
I took a look at the cover and found it to be, at last in my eyes, some sort of educational heavyweight; «Why should I be reading up on the general legal framework exactly?» Earl sat down on the other side of the table; «May help you with your appeal and give you less time. If you are clever or lucky that is.» He smiled at me and started flipping pages in his own book. I merely raised a brow; I had used my quota of luck when I was transferred in the first place, and I highly doubted anything could get me less time. Not that I had given up, that was never my style, but I knew from the way I had been treated this far that I had very little to say in the matter; everyone wanted someone to blame in this complicated and grotesque scenery. It proved to be pretty easy pinning the guy that had been found literally covered in everyone's blood with an axe in his hands. «So I guess that's what you are trying to do while locked up in here?» I raised a brow at him and tried not to sound too nosy; « How long have you been here anyway?» he met my eyes with the calm expression he had worn most of the time I had known him, but the excitement in his eyes and the growing smile on his beak once again revealed the youthful soul trapped behind the surface; I'm not sure if he was the one easy to read or if i just read people easily. «No, I'm actually studying until I get out. I never got my high school diploma, and I'm making up for it now; hoping to get the chance to attend a college when I get out.» His smiled weakened a little; « I have been here since I was sixteen, and now I'm twenty. Only got a year left to serve.» He brightened again at the end of that sentence and I couldn't help but smile at his almost childlike optimism; the contrast to his broad figure and heavily tattooed arms was just so obvious. I wanted to ask what he had done to be locked up in the first place but couldn't bring myself to it at the moment. Instead I tried keeping things casual; « Seems like you got it all settled then. Someone special waiting around for you?» I gave Earl a smug smile, and once again I surprised myself with how well I had adjusted, being back and communicating with other people. Since my remark was meant partly as a joke, he surprised me with his answer; «Yeah, my girlfriend and I are getting married when I'm out. I wanna give her a great, white wedding and show that I'm still worthy of her! So she will know that from her eon things will only get better…» He beamed with both happiness and pride at the mention of his soon to be wife and again everything i had though of him at first sight proved to be wrong; I was a little surprised at his seemingly naive belief in his girlfriends loyalty, but I didn't know the girl for myself so I was in no position to judge; «Wow, she must be quite the catch then.. What's her name?» I said. The big guy gave another childish smile and finally gave up reading his book as he closed it with a happy sigh; «Cassie. Well, its short for Cassidy.» He rested his arms on the thick book and eyened me; «You got a girl on the outside?» I shook my head; «Nah, not really. I'm not the type to get trapped in a relationship. Need some variation you know.» I smiled slyly and Earl gave a short laugh; «Gotcha.» I sat back in the chair, trying to get comfy on the hard plastic surface. «Actually I think there is someone waiting for me on the inside.» The eagle raised a brow at me and smiled disbelievingly before I managed to explain myself and make sure he didn't think I was talking about a man; after all, this was a male-only facility. «I got her locked up for stealing ancient treasures and mind controlling clay statues.» Earl couldn't help himself and started laughing; «What did she do you say?!» I smiled, exited as I retold my adventures from what felt like ages ago; «Yeah, she seduced me with her sweet talk and pretty face before she tried killing me; literally with fire as she turned her majestic throne into a dragon! In the end I had to smash the crown she used to control her clay-army just to save our sorry asses. Not only did we save China, I'm sure she would have taken over the world if she was given the chance!» I threw my arms into the air as I declared our unrecognized bravery and selflessness. I wasn't really surprised when another inmate hushed loudly at me as he passed by. I merely gave him an ugly stare and Earl just kept laughing at me. «You sure have some crazy exes dude.» I shook my head and crossed my arms; «She was never officially my girlfriend.» He merely smiled before he suddenly seemed to notice something; «You talked about «we» at some point. Your brothers?» I met his gaze and saw the questioning look in his eyes; «Yeah. We used to do everything together.» I tried keeping the sadness out of my voice as I spoke but felt how my trail of thoughts quickly turned into painfully happy memories. He merely nodded; « I get it. No fun being locked away from those you care for.» I quickly turned to face the wall, running a hand through my feathers. Suddenly the happiness caused by my restricted freedom faded in the shadow from the loss of my family. Why the tears started building now I didn't understand. Luckily I was saved by the sudden ring of a bell, followed by Earls happy voice; «Its lunchtime!»

We once again made our way down the corridors but this time it was a lot more crowded with people and everyone tried rushing past each other; obviously, mealtime was the highlight of the day. Earl looked down on me and gave a smile; «No worries, you are with me now.» I wasn't sure what to say, so I just raised a brow and turned to look at the moving mass of inmates in blue outfits.  
Following Earls lead I soon found myself in what looked like the everyday high school cafeteria; even the line by the counter was as noisy and chaotic as I remembered it. As it moved forward at a rather quick pace we were handed plastic trays for our food rations. They were filled with what reminded me of the occasional attempt Louie had done at cooking for the three of us in Uncle Ds' absence ; in other words, something unidentifiable and not too tempting. However, food is food, and I had learned to appreciate many things I had once taken for granted. I had somehow managed to loose Earl out of sight during the few minutes spent in line. Nevertheless, looking around the spacious yet already crowded seating area I quickly spotted him waving at me from a few tables down the aisle. I smiled at him and made my way over. Taking a seat I placed my tray down and looked around; there was a whole gang of other birds around the table, and I recognized the two seagulls from earlier. Although they were too busy fighting over a pretzel to notice me, Earl greeted me warmly and I had to beat him to it when he tried introducing me to the others; «I'm Huey. Huey Duck.» I gave my new pal a smile and Earl quickly responded; «This is the hatchie I was just talking about. » He gained most of the others guys attention and soon they were all staring me down. One of the others, a guy I recognized as a dove, turned to me with a half-smile as he gave Earl a pat on the shoulder; «Don't let Mother Theresa here scare you off with all his good intentions.» The eagle in question turned to give him an ugly stare; The dove merely laughed a hoarse laugh, and gave him an innocent smile that didn't suit the guys rough appearance at all. «Don't worry about that.» I said, a smile tugging on the corner of my mouth at the overbearing look on Earls face.  
«Hey, Red… what happened to your hands?» this time it was a small, scarred and rather though looking crow talking, his voice as pleasant to listen to as the sound of a rusty chainsaw; he pointed at my bandaged wrists, as if i hadnt noticed the blood once again staining the fabric. I was a little taken aback by the question and the sudden nickname, but to be honest I should have been surprised that no one had pointed it out until now. « Well, I…» I started out, not sure what to say. I couldn't even make out where the story started and ended; I had chosen to forget much of it along with the parts I truly couldn't recall anymore. So the task of giving my fellow inmates a compound picture of what I had been through seemed impossible; « I was trapped by a crazy dude with a thing for razor blades and strange habit of killing people for the sake of teaching them a lesson.» I stabbed what I identified as a sausage on my plate with the plastic fork given to potentially dangerous people as myself so we couldn't possible kill anyone with silverware. I felt everyone within hearing distance staring at me; «What?» I said, keeping a blank face at the both shocked and curious looks I gained from around the table.  
Suddenly it had become quiet, as if everyone had stopped talking at the sound of my voice. «I tried killing the guy off when I finally got the chance. Proved to be the wrong man, but by the time I figured he was already dead.»

I partly expected being pinned to the floor by an angry mob, and a frown formed on my face as nobody reacted the way I had imagined. At least I had put all my cards on the table; hopefully I was now stapled as an unstable killer you shouldn't mess with if you valued your life. But something told me gaining a reputation would need some more effort from my part.  
I kept my eyes narrow as the crow from earlier leaned across the table; reaching for my hand he didn't even smile at me as he spoke; «Well, welcome home then… Red.»


End file.
